Fresh Eyes
by 2178577
Summary: She obeyed and squinted her eyes open just a little. Not quite as bright as before, not quite as painful. She felt herself slide to the left, the new sensations throwing her off balance. Aang's grip around her side tightened, bringing her back up. And yet, the familiar sensation of falling filled her stomach again as she found herself pressed up against him.


"Sit across from so that our knees touch and give me your hands," Aang said.

"uh… what are we doing again?"

"Just trust me."

Toph felt uneasy but his intentions seemed genuine and Aang was not a good liar. "O…kay." She took her place across from him. Aang reached forward and snatched her hands. His hands were surprisingly large, and covered hers completely.

"Just relax," he instructed, "Breathe in deeply. . . 1, 2, 3. . . and exhale . . . 3, 2, 1 and inhale. . . just focus on the sound of my voice."

They sat for several minutes holding hands and breathing.

"This isn't very exciting Twinkles. If you wanted a date, you shoulda asked someone else," Toph quipped, trying to hide how uncomfortable she was getting. Aang released one of her hands and pressed a finger to her lips. Toph felt her cheeks burn a little.

"Shhh!" Aang said, "Just be still and listen. Let your breathing and heart rate follow mine." He grabbed her hand again.

No one else was around so Toph decided to humor him. How she was going to control her heart rate to match his was beyond her though. In and out and in and out and . . . Aang grasped her hands a little harder and she felt her heart speed up a bit. Butterflies erupted in her stomach. Aang's heart beat sped up too almost as if on cue.

Sure enough, after sometime, she could only hear one heartbeat and one rhythmic breath. A few more minutes passed and everything got somehow muffled. She could no longer feel out their silhouettes or the ground beneath them. If this is what meditating did, she wanted no part of it.

"Aang?" Toph called out, growing impatient.

"Open your eyes," he said.

"Why?" She said, "I'm blind remember?"

"Just do it, ok?"

"Ugh, fine." Toph did as she was instructed and opened her eyes. She was bombarded with brightness and … color? Images, shapes, movement everywhere. Her feet were numb but her eyes were burning. She promptly shut her eyes with a shriek.

"Toph? Are you okay?" Aang asked.

"What is this? What's happened to me?"

"We're in the spirit world."

"WHAT?" Toph had heard Sokka describe the spirit world several times and it was never pleasant.

"Don't be scared, Toph, it's not –"

"Me? Scared? Haha!" She said, turning around. She felt something breathing on her. Her eyes fluttered open, the distraction causing her to forget keeping them shut. Again she felt the intensity of full vision hit her. Why were some things so large and others so small? The smoothness of the movements and the depth between them confused her mind, while the constant stimulation caused a headache to form.

It was pigeon-squirrel spirit with yellow fur and blue feathers. Its eyes blinked rapidly at the young girl. Toph let out an uncharacteristic squeal, forcing shut her eyes. Her feet weren't at their prime but she could still feel ground beneath her. It had to be part earth -right?

"Take that you monster!" she yelled, channeling her inner energy to command the earth beneath her. But the earth did not obey its master. She was completely helpless.

Toph felt her throat go dry as she choked down a gasp of air. She tried to get a good sense of what was around her but it was still very fuzzy. Was this what the world really looked like? It was terrifying. She felt her chest tighten, her heart race and her head pound. Her breathing was rapid. Toph had never had a panic attack before. _Am I dying?_ She thought. Aang was calling her name but he sounded far away, worlds away. She had to get away from whatever was threatening her. She found herself backing up. At first it was a hesitant few steps backward. But then she pivoted and began to run.

Before long, her feet couldn't even feel the ground below her. Her stomach dropped and she felt the wind pick-up on her face. She was falling. But as soon it occurred to her that she was falling, she stopped and something gripped her arm tight. She was dangling off of something, her legs kicking in desperation to find some ground. She tried opening her eyes again. BIG mistake. The space below her seemed to have no end. If she wasn't already dying, her chance of survival had definitely decreased. She watched as the distant bottom grew further and further(?) away. Then she felt herself spin around, her chest slamming against another, her feet resting on top of another set of feet.

The long jumps made her stomach flip as she watched the world whip around her. A hand placed itself firmly around her waist, and her feet gently met the ground beneath them.

"Toph. Toph – just relax. You're okay."

"I-"

"I'm sorry," he said, "I should have said more before we got here. We're in the spirit world but you're totally safe. I wouldn't let anything happen to you. I am _so_ sorry."

"What's happening?" She asked quietly. She was still too scared and too dizzy to put up a tough front.

"We're in the spirit world," he repeated, "You can't bend here. But you also don't experience any physical ailments that you would on earth."

"What?"

"You aren't blind in the spirit world."

"I'm not?"

"No," Aang said with a laugh, "Open your eyes again. Slowly, this time."

She obeyed and squinted her eyes open just a little. Not quite as bright as before, not quite as painful. She felt herself slide to the left, the new sensations throwing her off balance. Aang's grip around her side tightened, bringing her back up. And yet, the familiar sensation of falling filled her stomach again as she found herself pressed up against him.

His free hand reached to tuck a few stray hairs behind her ear. Toph's eyes opened a little more, letting her surroundings fall into place. She waved her hand in front of her face in amazement. The movement caused her to lean forward, losing her balance again.

"Gah! No wonder you guys are so clumsy. This is really weird."

"Hey," he teased.

"How do you get around like this?"

Aang grinned at his friend. Her eyes were wide, a small smile across her lips, pink cheeks and stubborn strands falling back around her face. "So pretty," he thought.

"What is?" Toph asked.

"Oh!" Aang exclaimed, not realizing he was speaking aloud. "The spirit world is very pretty," he said lamely.

"Is it? I've never seen anywhere else."

"But that's not what I wanted to show you."

"Then what is?"

"Come with me."

The two walked painfully slow in silence for a few minutes, Aang's hand tightly holding Toph by him. She wanted to complain but she needed the balance and was enjoying the tingling sensation running up and down her spine and swirling in her stomach.

The reached a large opening, covered in grass. A pool of water was in the middle.

"This," Aang said showing Toph the water.

"What is it?" She said, bending down to touch it. Unfortunately, she fell face first into the water. Aang shouldn't have laughed but he did.

"What the hell twinkle toes!?" She yelled, pulling herself out of the shallow end, "Why didn't you warn me?"

"I didn't think you dive into it," Aang said, suppressing another giggle, "It's water. Just look, don't touch."

"You brought me here to see water?"

"No quite. Look more carefully. What do you see?"

Toph's eyes hovered over her own eyes, as the water stilled and her reflection became clearer. "That's . . . me?" Her hands moved up to her face, then her hair. She started to pat all over, watching her reflection follow suit.

"Yes. Do you remember when Katara told you were very pretty?"

"Yeah?"

"And you thanked her?"

"Yeah?"

"But you said that there would be no way to tell if she was lying?"

"Yeah."

"Well, she wasn't lying, Toph. And it made me really sad to think that you didn't even know what your face looked like. Because whenever I see you . . . I always feel better. And, I thought . . . I thought you should know, with your own eyes."

Suddenly, Toph's attention moved to the airbender beside her. He was tall and his skin pale. The bright blue arrows stood out against it. His face was well defined, his grey eyes were very bright. A subtle but endearing blush spread across his cheeks as he rubbed his neck nervously.

"Thanks, Aang," she said softly, "That's the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me."

They sat in silence at the pool for a long while, their eyes locked and hands clasped. It was the kind of thing she'd give someone else hell for, but for now she was in heaven.


End file.
